X-Ray Photoelectron Study of Yb-Doped InP

X-ray photoelectron spectra of core levels are reported for InP:Yb. Crystalline InP, doped with Yb to a level of 0.5 at.%, was grown by the synthesized solute diffusion method. An analysis of the core-level spectra of the constituent components, i.e. In 3d_{5/2} and P 2p, revealed a minor influence of the surface oxide species, mainly in the phosphate-like form. The spectrum of the Yb 4d core level was also recorded. The energy of the Yb 4d_{3/2} peak was found identical to that in Yb metal, whereas the 4d_{5/2} peak was found to be shifted to higher binding energies. This effect was found comparable to the case of advanced oxidation of Yb thus confirming its high reactivity, even as a bulk dopant. The data give also a rare experimental example of detection of bulk dopant atoms in a semiconductor matrix by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at the limit of detectability.